New Zealand to embark on world’s largest feral predator eradication

Ambitious $2.8m scheme hopes to eliminate damaging species from ecologically significant Rakiura/Stewart Island

New Zealand conservationists are embarking on the largest attempt ever made to eradicate introduced predators from an inhabited island.

Manaaki Whenua-Landcare Research, a crown research institute, has signed a $2.8m partnership with Rakiura/Stewart Island's conservation group, Predator Free Rakiura, to eradicate predators including possums, rats, feral cats and hedgehogs over the next four years.